MapServer 4.10.0 review

MapServer is an Open Source development environment for building spatially-enabled internet applications

License: MIT/X Consortium License File size: 1741K Developer: Stephen Lime

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MapServer is an Open Source development environment for building spatially-enabled internet applications. The project is not a full-featured GIS system, nor does it aspire to be. Instead, MapServer excels at rendering spatial data (maps, images, and vector data) for the web.

Beyond browsing GIS data, MapServer allows you create "geographic image maps", that is, maps that can direct users to content. For example, the Minnesota DNR Recreation Compass provides users with more than 10,000 web pages, reports and maps via a single application. The same application serves as a "map engine" for other portions of the site, providing spatial context where needed.

MapServer was originally developed by the University of Minnesota (UMN) ForNet project in cooperation with NASA and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR). Presently, the MapServer project is hosted by the TerraSIP project, a NASA sponsored project between the UMN and consortium of land management interests.

The software is maintained by a growing number of developers (nearing 20) from around the world and is supported by a diverse group of organizations that fund enhancements and maintenance.

Here are some key features of "MapServer":
Advanced cartographic output
Scale dependent feature drawing and application execution
Feature labeling including label collision mediation
Fully customizable, template driven output
TrueType fonts
Map element automation (scalebar, reference map, and legend)
Thematic mapping using logical- or regular expression-based classes
Support for popular scripting and development environments
PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, Java, and C#
Cross-platform support
Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, and more
A multitude of raster and vector data formats
TIFF/GeoTIFF, EPPL7, and many others via GDAL
ESRI shapfiles, PostGIS, ESRI ArcSDE, Oracle Spatial, MySQL and many others via OGR
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web specifications
WMS (client/server), non-transactional WFS (client/server), WMC, WCS, Filter Encoding, SLD, GML, SOS
Map projection support
On-the-fly map projection with 1000s of projections through the Proj.4 library